Chevy Tahoe Maintenance and Repair

Comments

Thanks so much! You confirmed my diagnoses.. Would you have any tips on replacement... I replaced a fuel pump in my sons 96 ford ranger and it was a real pain removing tank and all.. then someone told me he just removes bed to do same. I know theres no bed to remove here but any tips would help!!!

I noticed that the grease fittings on top of ball joint were not being greased. Mechanic checked the front end; removed the splash guard and found several grease fittings. These had not been serviced during the life of the vehicle.

If you live in or near DC and have had fuel spitback issues with your car, please email pr@edmunds.com before Monday, February 28, 2011 to be interviewed by a reporter. Please include your daytime contact information and the year, make and model of your car.

I also have a 2006 Chevy Tahoe with the 5.3L V8. Same exact problem you are having and exactly the same mileage. I had a dealer give me a repair quote for over $4K to replace cam and lifters. In the process of getting a second opinion and exploring what GM will or will not help us with. Funny thing is if it was a 2007 or newer it would all be covered under GM's 100,000 mile powertrain warranty. Lucky me as usual.

jim457,Can you please email me your contact information (including a good number to reach you), VIN, current mileage, involved dealer, and a break down of what you are/ have experienced (I understand this is repetitive its just to make it a little easier for me to get the ball rolling). I apologize for your frustrations. Have a great weekend.Christina GM Customer Service

I have heard a rumor that the Camshaft and Lifters in the Tahoe are somewhat prevalent...and as luck would have it, my Tahoe (5.3L V8) has this problem, and of course my warranty just went out on it. The Service Manager has told me that it will cost $4k plus. The service Manager said he would try to get GM to pay for it as good will, but when it came down to it, because I didn't buy it or service it from that dealership, more than likely I would have to pay for at least labor ($2000 plus). He also told me that the dealership has the authority to say yea or nay on these types of issues. Any advice, any case to contact GM myself????

I have religously changed the oil and filter, in fact someone that actually worked for the dealership did it for me on the side. My Tahoe (and On-Star)does the same thing (tells me what level the oil life is at, etc.) but the Manager told me that I couldn't rely on that...so i am my wits end on what to do???!!!??

In August 2009, I bought a certified used 2007 Tahoe LTZ from Eatontown Chevrolet in NJ. The car has been nothing but a major nuisance for my family.

The dealer provided no mats or headsets for the factory DVD, only one set of keys, and no manual. The tires had major dry rot, which they were unwilling to change at sale. So we bought a set and the dealer didn't even give us a deal for purchase or install.

Within the past 24 months, we've had to have the rear lift gate fixed 4 times, the brake pads/rotors replaced/cut twice, the rear diff serviced and just recently replaced, the auto leveling suspension fixed, the check engine light fixed three times, and a coolant leak fixed. Oh, and a the battery went twice.

Now the clear coat is coming off the car, all over the place. The front driver side quarter panel is, in areas, down to the base coat. The plastic, color matched strips affixed to the doors are all brown now, look horrible. Unacceptable.

While I am glad I bought an extended warranty, I strongly advise against buying this car new or certified used. Poor quality. And the warranty won't cover our paint problems. Our attempts to have our concerns fell on deaf ears with GM corporate last year.

Sorry if this has been asked and resolved before, but I'm new to this forum and have run out of ideas.

I have a 2001 Tahoe 5.3 2wd that has 160000 on it. I replaced the plugs and wires just for general maintenance and tune up, and now it wants to skip/idle rough at low speeds or while sitting still...what gives? I replaced the plugs with AC Delco Iridium pre-gapped at .040. Also put on new wires. My truck wasn't skipping before so it has to do with plugs/wires right? I rechecked everything, even put new wires on for a second time just to make sure they werent bad, and still no solution. I'm out of ideas...please help.

On Saturday, as I was driving on the interstate, my Check Engine light came on. I couldn't think of anything that would cause this at the time. The car was acting fine, and while I'm getting close on the oil change, the Tahoe is equipped with an oil change reminder as well (which has not yet shown up), so I was assuming this was not the case.

Fast forward to this morning, I get into the parking deck at work, and as I'm rounding the corners to climb from level to level, my car starts dragging as if I had a flat tire (though this was not the case). So I struggled to actually make the turns all the way up, my rear tires are squealing the whole way and I finally get it into a parking space.

I hop out, take a look around, no flat tire or visible impedance in the axles or anything, so I decide to give it another drive to see what happens. As I pull out of the spot, there is a loud POP underneath the vehicle. It sounded as if something was stuck somewhere and was jarred loose. Anyways, the steering loosens up, everything's back to normal....AND my check engine light goes off.

Has anybody else seen this happen before? Any experts out there have any ideas as to what it could be attributable to? I realize I should probably have the diagnostics run on it, but I'm also trying to avoid unnecessary expenditures these days.

I just took my 2007 GMC Yukon XL to the dealership today for a clicking sound that happens once in a while. They said it was the camshaft and lifter and if fixed would run around $4000 or replace the engine for $6000. What did you end up doing? Mine has 70,000 miles and is out of warranty.

I have a 2005 Tahoe I bought used in 2010 from a local auto dealer. From day one I noticed a rattle like noise from the front end. This noise seems to only happen when the road is uneven or has bumps. It sounds like metal knocking on metal. I have had a complete service from a Chevy dealer and they noted nothing wrong or out of place. This rattle is constant when driving on rough roads no matter if I am driving straight or making turns. I looked through the forums but could not find anyone who has the same issue. If any one knows what this is please help. The dealer was no help and a local repair shops can hear it but dont know what it is cause nothing is loose when they look under the car. Also my other issue is my fuel gauge shows inaccurate fuel levels. I can fill my car up and then it read empty with warning light and sound. After a few minutes it will read correctly. At other times it will read I have more fuel than I have or when driving just drops to empty. Anyone know whats up with this?

I&#146;m sorry to hear about this rattling concern you&#146;ve described and that the visit you made to the Chevrolet Dealership wasn&#146;t successful in working towards a resolution. If we can follow up with the dealership for you and further investigate, please email us with your name, user name, contact information, the last 8 digits of your VIN, and the name of your involved dealership.

Your front rattle is most likely the upper control arm bushings. Every thing will appear to be "tight" but it really isn't. You may be able to see the wear by opening the hood and looking where the control arm attaches to the frame. The only "real" way to tell is to relieve the spring presser and if they are "bad", it will rattle like a bolt in a tin can. I would suggest that you take it to a good Mechanic you trust and ask him to check the control arm bushings, if he is any good, he should find it right away. Good luck.As for your fuel gauge issue, it could be the sending unit located in the gas tank or the gauge itself, I've seen both. Tell you Mechanic about it and he should be able to do some tests to isolate the problem. Hope this helps and "Good Luck"!!

I ran a 2001 Yukon 421,000 miles and never had any issues like this but there are two potential culprits form my experience. First is electrical. Remember that each cylinder on that engine has an individual coil providing the voltage to each plug. Unlike the old systems with a common coil. If you have a bad coil on one cylinder this can cause this. I would pull each plug to see if one or more are noticeable different or possibly sooted up more than the others. Another possible cause is that GM had issues on some cams that caused them to prematurely wear the lobes off. If the valves are not oppening correctly to let in the gas or let out exhaust you will have performance issues and possibly what feel like a cylinder miss.

I normally do not do a lot of complaining about cars but am frustrated enough to let you know what I think of the new Chevy and Gm designed Tahoe, Yukon line of trucks. I have been a loyal GM customer for a long time and last year traded in my 2001 Yukon with 421,000 miles on it after encountering a light post in a parking lot requiring repair. Thought it was telling me it was tired. Actually it was bomb proof except for their poorly designed fuel pump issues.

On to my 2007 Tahoe purchased with 43,000 miles, a virtual baby to me. I do approximately 45-55k miles per year and almost all is highway driving. Chevy replaced one front spindle bearing around 75k miles under warranty then a second spindle bearing the other side around 85,000 miles. All at their cost great for me right? Not so since these two components actually cupped the insides of all of my tires which were brand new so essentially wore them out to an unsafe situation prematurely. Pretty expensive when you look at 18" tires at close to 200.00 each. I just mounted 4 Blizzack snows before we were hit with that freak snow storm 4 weeks ago and last week saw the left front tire inside area almost worn smooth. Again almost 200.00 per tire. Now at 101,000 miles I'm told the upper ball joints are getting lose and need another 800.00 worth of repairs. Chevy this is disappointing and reflects on their light weight front end and their outsourcing to the lowest priced parts. This truck has had more repairs to the front end in 100,000 miles that my older Yukon has in 400,000. By the way it was again our of alignment another testimony to poor engineering and cheap parts. My 01 Yukon had 3 or 4 alignments in the 400,000 miles and not once did it cup tires or have any issues in the front end. I have to say Government Motors is making the choice of my next truck easy and it will not be built by them. This is not a truck any longer and if you plan on doing any heavy duty driving or have poor roads buyer beware it will cost you a fortune to own. For a vehicle that costs $55,000 new this should be an embarrassment to GM but knowing them it is not. At least we are not hearing claims "Like a Rock" on their commercials any longer. Think that in itself is a message.

I have 451,000 on my 2001 Yukon. I've been pretty happy with it, except for the poor alignment wear on the front end. It seems to wear through pitman arms pretty quickly. Thus I get a lot of wear and tear on the front tires. Most of my driving is highway driving as well. It looks like they still haven't fixed the alignment issues with the newer vehicles either. Thanks for the info.

:confuse: So, I have the mac daddy LTZ?...Over $45k new...Big Fat Hairy Deal!!!! You would think spending that kind of money on a vehicle would mean some sort of quality assurance.....Am I just expecting too much?

Got in Tahoe to go to work this morning, it was shaking like crazy, stabilitrak warning, traction warning, and the engine light blinking like crazy! Needless to say, I went straight to the dealership. First time it ever happened - no other warning signs at all.

Get the call from the service writer later that afternoon that the CAM Shaft & Lifters are bad and need replaced..something about a bad lobe..... and .....NOTHING IS COVERED!!!! Surprise, my 5yr/100k mile warranty is 4 months expired! I get a quote of approx $3500 to fix, give or take a few bucks. So my husband goes over to the dealership to figure out what's going on...finally gets it out of the service dept. that WE (me & hubby) didn't do anything wrong, and they don't know why it happened - but did say that a 2007 Tahoe with only 90k miles shouldn't have that problem.

So then I go surfing the net.....seems like this particular problem is an issue with every vehicle that has the engine that I have...5.3L. Then I talked to a few people who have Tahoes, Avalanche, etc...with my same engine...and they had the SAME problem. Some vehicles that were newer with less mileage than mine. My question would be.....WHY IS THERE NO RECALL ON THIS?

I'll even go one further, a friend of mine that had the same problem talked to someone who is "in the know" - and I learned this is a common problem - happens all of the time - and sometimes you "get lucky" and it happens when the warranty is still in force. In the last 5 years, My husband and I have purchased 3 GM vehicles, 1 for me, and one for each son. Also, my husband owns a company that has fleet trucks, also GM. Is General Motors that unconcerned that they just let this fly? I don't know about anyone else, but I am not rich, I am struggling right now just like everyone else and we work hard for our money. To have this "common problem" come up 3 days after xmas - and just a few days prior to property taxes and insurances due - and then learn it'll be about $3500 to fix - it ridiculous. If this is a common problem - and it is known to be a problem by the dealerships and mechanic shops - then why do I have to pay for it - shouldn't GM take care of this? Tahoe is sitting at the dealership, and it is not driveable.

I intend on trying to see what can be done, but from the other posts I've read, it doesn't appear as if General Motors cares about keeping loyal customers such as myself. Hopefully I will be able to enlist the help of the service manager, but if not, then I'll call GM and see if I can talk to someone.